Stripspray

This is one of my favorite topics, although not one of my favorite practices. Stripspraying  to control weeds in vineyards has all the appeal to me of Darth Vader.

 

...A typical strip spray practice that combines the use of herbicide under the vine row where it is difficult to cultivate with healthy covercrop planted between the rows for soil fertility. In this case about 2 feet out of 8 are actually sprayed. This is a reasonable compromise between efficiency and quality...but it is a compromise....

Since becoming organic I have developed an entirely different perspective of the vineyard farmscape. When I was in my early 30s and a new farm property owner, I watched with fascination as my neighbors, who also became my mentors, saddled up the ol' tractor whenever a few blades of grass poked out of the soil. Cultivating was an art and the aggression it inculcated seemed a bit like war. But there really was more to it than just annihilating weeds. It was also about conserving moisture by "fluffing up" the topsoil to prevent wicking action and the subsequent evaporation of the precious water needed to sustain the vines in the absence of regular irrigation.

The combative stance of our industry toward weeds has advanced (if that is the correct term) from a personal aesthetic and sporting cross-fire to a fiscal confrontation. Errant plants growing amongst the vines now pose a financial affront and management challenge that is best anticipated and addressed in advance. Kill them before they have a chance to marr the soil's surface! Let there be no blemish to detract from the uniformity of vine rows simmering in the summers heat. Avoid the dispatch of a worker with hoe. Protect the bottom line.

 

...A small, non-intensively managed block that relies on herbicide to minimize handwork. The sprayed area covers about 1/2 the surface area; there is no covercrop. The spray appears to have been hand-applied....

So modern viticulture draws upon chemistry. Although there are others, Monsanto's RoundUp is the panacea, the paradigm, the practice. Spray every vineyard block, every row, every plant during the dormant period so no weed survives to get in the way of the seasonal flow of chores. Weeds are dispatched in February so they will not be a problem in July.